


Random Drabbles: Evil Mirror Universe III - Force Shenanigans

by dogmatix



Series: Random Drabbles [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: De-aging, F/M, GFY, Gen, M/M, Multi, a look at the internal workings of the sith order, anakin had a bad childhood, force shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 14:25:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7536334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogmatix/pseuds/dogmatix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anakin is hiding two kids from the entire Sith Order. Also one of the kids is a Jedi. Things are about to get complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Random Drabbles: Evil Mirror Universe III - Force Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> hamelin-born asked: Prompt: Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme: Force shennanigans.
> 
> Something about this being both OT3 and Force shenanigans had me all but standing on my head, until finally it clicked, in part due to norcumi being awesome. Also with help and encouragement from flamethrower and imjz.

Sith Master Mace Windu faced Sith Lord Anakin Skywalker.  It should have been innocuous – two Sith running into each other in one of the many hallways of the Academy’s living areas.  It wasn’t.

Mace Windu had disliked Anakin on sight, all those years ago.  Added to the fact that Dooku and Mace had had a long-standing rivalry, and Mace was just never going to do anything but want Anakin dead. That was fine, Anakin could live with that.  Given the chance, he’d stab Mace Windu in the face and count it a good day.

“What’s the matter, your handler let you slip your leash?”  Mace asked, teeth bared in something that was barely a smile.

“You’re one to talk, I heard about Haruun Kal,” Anakin sniped back, his own face hidden by the mask he wore as a matter of course.  There was a slight voice-distortion built into the mask that Anakin liked because it made his voice more menacing than usual, and when dealing with other Sith, every advantage counted.

“They had it coming,” Mace sneered. “Weak and sentimental, like some Sith I could name.”

“That wouldn’t happen to include your old Apprentice, would it Master Windu?” Anakin asked, mock-solicitous.

Mace stepped forward with sudden speed.  Anakin just had time to reach for his lightsaber, but Mace’s iron grip closed around his wrist like a vice. “One day,” Windu said, low and threatening, “you will go too far. And I will personally enjoy cutting that pathetic mask off your face. _Skywalker_.”

Anakin stood mute and shaking with fury as Windu stalked away, shoving his anger into the tight circle of hate that fueled his Darkness.  He wanted to chase after Windu, challenge the man to a duel right that moment.  But he couldn’t.

He’d already wasted too much time.  Turning with a snarl, he strode with long legs for his apartment.

The pervasive heat of an oncoming fever was settling into his joints. He knew from Obi-Wan and Padme’s descriptions that he had only a short time left.  He forced himself not to run.

The door sliding shut behind him left him shaky with relief. Or maybe that was just the continuation of the symptoms.  Growling, he pushed back his hood and fumbled with the catches on his mask.   From the couch, two small faces watched him.  No more than eleven years old, the two children were solemn and silent.  The girl in particular radiated an uneasy fear through the lifebond all three of them shared.

Anakin yanked the helmet off and tossed it to one side, then slammed the door lock on with more force than necessary.  “Gods _dammit_.”

“Are you okay?” the boy asked, his ginger hair styled in the typical short-cropped Initiate style. He had an Apprentice brand on his upper arm already though.

“I’m _fine_ ,” Anakin snarled, ignoring the way the girl drew back as he approached the couch. He knew he was being ridiculous as he slumped into the couch beside the boy. But dear _gods_ this was such a damn risk. Sure, he _thought_ the rooms were clear of bugs, and that he’d managed to smuggle the two kids in undetected last night.  He was even _pretty_ sure that he and Obi-Wan had accurately translated the inscription on the old Jedi artifact, and that Padme’s interpretation of the typically indirect Jedi banthashit line was right.

But having the three of them _stuck_ here for at least a day, defenseless and with only a flimsy doorlock between them and an entire Academy full of Sith who wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of three helpless younglings, especially two ‘war heroes’ and  Yoda’s own damned former padawan…

“ _Fuck._ ” Anakin said with feeling, scrubbing one gloved hand over his face.

“I don’t think you’re fine,” Padme said, stubborn even at ten. Or eleven. Somewhere around there.

“Of course he’s not,” Obi-Wan said, half-condescending.  He was much too adult even at eleven. Ten. Whatever.  “You don’t ask because you think someone’s going to tell you the truth, obviously.”

Padme regarded Obi-Wan with grave suspicion.   It was almost enough to drive away Anakin’s bad mood.  His two life-mates as kids were, well, adorable. When they weren’t driving him to murder.

“It’s happening to you too, isn’t it.” Obi-Wan was too fucking perceptive, whatever his age.

“Yeah,” Anakin said, short and sharp.

“He’s really… he’s going to be a kid, like us?” Padme asked. 

Obi-Wan nodded. “You both said it happened to me, and I saw it happen to you.”

That was the single thing that ramped Anakin’s anxiety up to eleven. As kids, Obi-Wan and Padme only had their memories up to their apparent age, which meant that he probably would too.  And Anakin Skywalker at ten or eleven hadn’t exactly been in a good place. Dooku had seen to that. If Anakin himself blew their cover, he’d never forgive himself.

“You know what to do?” Anakin asked, tugging at his gloves.  Force, it was getting warm in here.

“Keep you here, right?” Obi-Wan asked, sounding calm.  Anakin knew better though – Obi-Wan’s tells were there even as a kid.

“Yeah. I shouldn’t be dangerous to you, but sit on me if you have to, to keep me from leaving.”

“But if you’re a kid like us, I mean, you won’t hurt us. You like us.” Padme said, a mixture of certainty and confusion scrunching up her face.

“Yeah, I like you. But I wasn’t… Dooku had a… _unique_ approach to teaching an Apprentice.”

“Master Yoda told me about Dooku,” Padme said, pale and wide-eyed.

“He was probably sugar-coating it,” Anakin said, harsh even to his own ears.  Gods, he hated entire situation.

“Why can’t we go to my Master?” Padme asked, biting her lip when Anakin scowled at her.  “I- I know Master Yoda would know what to do. And you both said you’re good Sith!”

“Hey, Jedi kill Sith too! We’re not the bad ones!” Obi-Wan snapped, hands starting to ball into fists.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin said, putting a hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder to get the boy’s attention. “This is important.  You absolutely cannot let me leave. If- ”  Anakin took a steadying breath.  “If I ask where Dooku is, just admit he’s dead. Believe me, I’ll thank you for it.”

Obi-Wan nodded, understanding.

“If…if I ask you where my mother is, tell me she’s dead.”

Both of them were looking at Anakin now, silent and solemn.

“If we translated the damn inscription right, you, Obi-Wan, should revert to your adult self tomorrow.” At least, Anakin hoped so.  There _should_ be a time-limit on the effect, if they were right. Given that Obi-Wan had been affected first, he should be the first to revert.

“And if we were wrong?” Padme asked.

“Then we go to Master Palpatine.”

“He’s a Sith,” Padme said, suspicious again. “Why can’t we go to Master Yoda instead?”

Frustrating as it was, Anakin understood Padme’s situation.  She was a Jedi Padawan stuck on the Sith homeworld, smack dab in the middle of the Sith Academy. “Look, I know trusting the two of us is hard, but we really don’t want to hurt you. You can sense that, right?”

Padme nodded slowly.

“Master Palpatine is a last resort, but I’d trust him over the Jedi, because the Jedi have the greater good in mind.  If they have to threaten or sacrifice you to keep us in line, they’d probably do it.”

Padme’s face scrunched again.  She clearly was looking for a flaw in that logic and not finding it.

“But Palpatine likes Obi-Wan, and probably me, too. If he can fix us, we’d owe him a huge favour. He’d do what was best for himself, and in the long run, having us around to help him is probably the path he’d choose.”

“I don’t like it here,” Padme said after a long moment of silence.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Anakin swallowed, trying to focus past the way the world was starting to spin. “Just stay here in these rooms for a day or two. Don’t leave, and don’t let _me_ leave. There’s food in the kitchen and holos to watch. Don’t- ” Anakin shook his head to clear it, but that just made the world start to grey at the edges. His bones ached.  “Don’t- ”

“We’ll be okay. We’ll look after you,” Obi-Wan said, taking one of Anakin’s hands with both of his.

“Un,” Padme made an agreeing noise.  A small hand on his shoulder let him know she was finally getting over her aversion to the big scary Sith in his blank-faced mask.

Anakin tried to talk, to thank them, to reassure them, to tell them one more time to be careful, but he’d pushed as far as he could – the change had him in its grip, and he could feel his thoughts drifting, fading.

It was all up to Obi-Wan and Padme now. The black abyss of unconsciousness rose up and swallowed him.


End file.
